Newly developed technology powers an ultra-sensitive blood test for cancer DNA now in clinical use

Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!

"Highlights

• A product for cancer patients launched by Abbott is powered by technology called MAESTRO ... 
• The Oncodetect test is designed to look for molecular residual disease — traces of cancer DNA that may remain in a patient's body during and after treatment. 
• MAESTRO is one of several technologies with potential clinical impact to arise from more than a decade of multidisciplinary collaboration across teams ... 

...

focused on liquid biopsy — a blood test that can find small amounts of DNA shed by cancer cells into the bloodstream and potentially detect cancer recurrence earlier than traditional methods like imaging scans. ... develop a liquid biopsy test that was sensitive enough to find cancer DNA hidden among healthy, cell-free DNA circulating in blood. ...

now culminated in a technology that is at the core of a next-generation test launched for clinical use on October 26, 2026 ...

Oncodetect test is designed to detect and quantify the presence of a small amount of cancer DNA that may remain in a patient’s body after cancer treatment, called molecular residual disease. That cancer DNA, shed by tumors into the bloodstream, is a strong prognostic indicator of cancer recurrence. ...

The new version, powered by ... MAESTRO, looks across the whole genome to track up to 5,000 patient-specific cancer mutations and detect circulating tumor DNA levels below 1 part per million. ...

MAESTRO works by first profiling a patient’s tumor cells using whole genome sequencing to analyze thousands of mutations. Scientists then design short DNA probes, made of  modified oligonucleotides, that bind specifically to those mutated regions of the tumor DNA, and add these personalized “recognition” probes to the patient’s blood sample. The probes bind only to tumor DNA, and any unbound, healthy DNA is cleared away from the sample, making it easier for scientists to zero in on low levels of tumor DNA. ..."

Broad-developed technology powers an ultra-sensitive blood test for cancer DNA | Broad Institute "The technology, MAESTRO, is at the heart of Abbott’s new Oncodetect test, which detects extremely low levels of tumor DNA in a patient’s blood sample, helping doctors detect cancer recurrence."